TangToys: Smart Toys that can Communicate and Improve Children's Wellbeing
This addresses mental health communication difficulties for children, but it is incremental as it builds on existing tangible interface and sensor technologies.
The paper tackled the challenge of children communicating emotions during mental health issues by designing TangToys, tangible user interfaces with sensors and actuators that enable peer-to-peer support through Bluetooth communication, resulting in a non-intrusive tool for wellbeing communication via play.
Children can find it challenging to communicate their emotions especially when experiencing mental health challenges. Technological solutions may help children communicate digitally and receive support from one another as advances in networking and sensors enable the real-time transmission of physical interactions. In this work, we pursue the design of multiple tangible user interfaces designed for children containing multiple sensors and feedback actuators. Bluetooth is used to provide communication between Tangible Toys (TangToys) enabling peer to peer support groups to be developed and allowing feedback to be issued whenever other children are nearby. TangToys can provide a non-intrusive means for children to communicate their wellbeing through play.